Page 15 of Twice Bitten
I drew in a deep, shuddering breath, and Jack petted my back, nuzzling into my hair. The center console of the car dug into my hip, but I burrowed a little closer anyway. Louis had been so much bigger than me. Of course, most men were. And a lot of women. I’d avoided large, strong supernatural males for a long time, never trusting how they’d use their strength.
Jack hadn’t made any threats about what he’d do to Brent when he caught up with him. He wouldn’t hurt someone under his care. Someone weaker, someone who couldn’t fight back.
But how could I know for sure?
I went stiff in his arms, and Jack paused in his gentle stroking of my back.
“Angelo?”
Gods. His voice snapped me back to exactly what the fuck I’d been doing, even as it sent a quiver of desire racing through my belly. How fucking embarrassing, and my cheeks went hot. I didn’t want to move. I wanted to get even closer. I wanted to feel his hands slide under my clothes, tracing hot paths on every inch of my bare skin. I wanted that mouth on mine. I wanted that mouth between my legs.
I pulled away with a jerk, my movements clumsy and my body feeling all tingly and heavy, sitting back in my seat.
“Thanks,” I husked, not able to meet Jack’s eyes. “Sorry. Forget that happened. I need to know something.”
Jack let out a short laugh. “Forget that happened? Ange—”
“Forget it!” I snapped, my voice going high and thin. “And stop saying my fucking name.”
A short silence fell.
“All right, Mr. Vampire Enforcer.” He sounded a lot less gentle and a lot colder, and I winced, turning even further away to look out my window. Pines. And gravel. My eyes stung, and the pines and gravel blurred together. “What do you want to know? My blood type? I’ve told you practically everything else that’s important to know about me.”
My head whipped back around so quickly my neck twinged. “I beg your fucking pardon? Yourblood type? You think I want your—” I sputtered, so hurt and furious I could hardly speak. I vaguely realized that getting so deeply offended by the implication that I’d fulfill the worst vampire stereotype and only be interested in his blood was a bit hypocritical, given my own not-too-charitable thoughts about werewolf stereotypes. But ithurt, dammit. “I’d starve before I drank from you!”
Jack fixed me with a stony glare that nearly froze me in my seat. “What the fuck do you want to know,Angelo?”
Somehow the fact that he didn’t even lash out in return made it all so much worse.
But I had to know. Now that the idea had taken hold, I couldn’t shake it.
“What are you planning to do with Brent when you catch him?”
His eyebrows rose. “What’s with the sudden concern?”
“I’m not concerned,” I lied.
Although it wasn’t totally a lie. I didn’t care about Brent. I did care about how Jack meant to deal with Brent, because no matter how much Brent deserved what he had coming to him…hard-boiled vampire enforcer or not, and I’d started to tend toward not, given my pathetic display of tears and clinging…well, the thought of Jack dishing out Brent’s comeuppance turned my stomach. Literally, as in I might throw up if I had to see him kill Brent, or even raise his hand to him. Or know about it.
Jack hadn’t said anything.
“I’m not concerned,” I repeated, even less believably than before. “But I need to know what to expect.”
He cocked his head a little, looking unnervingly thoughtful, those pale blue eyes piercing. Too observant.
“I’m going to get my inheritance back,” he said at last. “I’m going to make him tell me what he did to Jake, because that coma isn’t normal for an otherwise healthy werewolf. And I’m going to find a way to get our mate bond broken even if I have to sell a kidney to do it. And then I’m hopefully never going to see his lying fucking face again.”
Christ, I believed him. He didn’t have a single tell to suggest he’d been lying. Relief made me weak in the knees. Luckily I wasn’t standing up. “Okay.”
“Just ‘okay’?” That skeptical, chilly tone made me want to shrink down under the dashboard and hide. But it was better this way.
“Yeah.” I turned and stared out the windshield again, balling my hands into fists and setting them on my knees. I wouldn’t look at him. I wouldn’t touch. We’d get this over with and that would be that. “Okay.”
“Fine,” Jack said.
And silence fell for a long time.
Chapter 6
